The Blues Magoos on DeBaser: garage-psych sparks from New York

The Profile

The Blues Magoos are an American garage-psych band from New York, noted for flashy electric stage outfits, a residency at the Nite Owl Café, and the hit single (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet. Their 1966 debut Psychedelic Lollipop and 1967’s Electric Comic Book cemented their place among 60s psychedelia; they later reunited for the 2014 album Psychedelic Resurrection.

Origin: New York, USA; debut album: Psychedelic Lollipop (1966); follow-up: Electric Comic Book (1967); notable single: (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet; known for Farfisa-driven garage-psych sound and vibrant stage suits; early association with the Nite Owl Café; reviewers credit them as forerunners in putting the word “psychedelic” on an album cover.

Three reviews dig into The Blues Magoos’ garage-psych spark: the 1966 debut Psychedelic Lollipop and 1967’s Electric Comic Book. Writers underline New York roots, Farfisa swirls, and covers like Tobacco Road alongside hits such as (We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet. They frame the band as forerunners of psychedelia (even noting “psychedelic” on the cover) and recall flashy stage suits and the Nite Owl Café. Overall vibe: enthusiastic and approving.

Notable Quotes

❝ Forerunners of psychedelia (it's the first time the term “psychedelic” appears on an album cover) and famous for their electrifying stage suits, in the recording studio Blues Magoos certainly don't hang up their instruments.

❝ A great example of this can be heard in the third track "Tobacco Road" (a cover of Loudermilk), where a substantially blues base is made original and personal thanks to the excellent work of Ralph Scala on the Farfisa and the long instrumental part, bordering on noise, that concludes the track.

❝ a record slightly unbalanced on garage tones as it is on the psychedelic side..... thus broadly lysergic breath throughout the repertoire, with inspired scratches both from the covers (GLORIA) BY VAN MORRISON and their original pieces.